Barcelona continues to attract the world’s largest video game companies thanks to its winning combination of talent and quality of life. The Swiss firm FunPlus, specialised in the development of mobile video games, has announced the opening of a new studio in the Catalan capital, which will be led by Felipe Mata, vice-president of product at the multinational.

The new office will not be integrated into the company’s usual business activity, which is firmly specialised in strategy games, but rather, according to its LinkedIn profile, it is open to exploring “other genres with high potential”. In particular, “innovative and attractive casual games” within another highly-demanded genre -short, puzzle-type games.

Four-year plan
For FunPlus, the video game industry is evolving rapidly and in a fiercely competitive environment. The Barcelona studio intends to create 120 jobs over four years and has already started hiring. Candidates are currently being sought to fill the positions of senior video game artist, chief designer and principal developer.

Mata, who has vast experience in the video game industry, explained, “We want to be one of the leading video game studios in Spain in the future and to contribute to shaping the future of FunPlus”. A future for which Barcelona could well be laying the first foundation stone in a new business line, differentiating itself from the successful strategy that has launched successes onto the market, such as State of Survival, Guns of Glory and King of Avalon.

Second adventure
This is not the first venture in Barcelona for FunPlus. It first arrived there in 2019 and already has thirty employees working in editorial management, marketing and creative services, as recalled by Catalonia Trade & Investment.

The Swiss company, which has over 2,000 employees worldwide, has located its Catalan branch in a 450 square metre office in the city centre.

^{Photo: FunPlus}